Twilight
by Wordcounter
Summary: What if Skynet did not start a nuclear war? What if Skynet had used something called Blacklight?
1. Chapter 1

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

This is my very first Terminator/Prototype fanfic and crossover.

Date: 121209

Disclaimer: A Terminator/Prototype crossover. All characters and concepts belong to their respective creators and owners.

Synopsis: What if Skynet did not start a nuclear war? What if Skynet had used something called Blacklight?

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

_**"If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless. If it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it."**_

_**Sun Tzu, Art of War,**_

_**Datalinks,**_

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

**T W I L I G H T **

Prologue:

_I was a fool. We were all fools. Skynet had played us for fools._

_How could we all be so foolish as to think that we could stop something as far-reaching as Judgement Day? Three time-travellers from the future had all but convinced me that Judgement Day could not be stopped._

_NO FATE ... That was the message that my mother left me. We had no fate but what we made for ourselves. That was what she had said. We destroyed the T-800. We stopped the T-1000. We wiped out all traces of the Terminators in the fiery cauldron. All gone ... or so we thought._

_We could now face the future confidently and look it squarely in the eye ... _

_Bring it on ... we threw down the gauntlet. _

_Fate laughed at us ... our pathetic attempts to stop Judgement Day ..._

_This is just the beginning ... came the warning._

_A third Terminator was sent to the past to protect me. _

_From what? I had asked. _

_From the T-X. Was his answer. _

_But that's impossible. _

_I protested. _

_We stopped Judgement Day. _

_I shouted. _

_Hell, you're not even supposed to exist._

_I hollered._

_I tried to deny the reality before me as it came crashing down around me in the grim-looking face of the Terminator._

_You only postponed it. Judgement Day is inevitable. _

_The Terminator had warned._

_I did not know then._

_We rushed all the way to CRS ... To find Brewster Roberts was our goal. Before the T-X did. We had to stop Skynet before it came operational. We were too late. Skynet came online on August 16th 2006 but it did not launch any ICBMs like we had all expected._

_They laughed at me of course since no T-X showed up and no nuclear bombs were fired. _

_Even the Terminator was puzzled. _

_Something had changed. Something significant ... He concluded._

_Something that not even the great John Connors was aware of._

_I know better now._

_Judgement Day did not begin with a bang in a baptism of nuclear fire like we had all thought it would. Instead, the whole thing began with something tiny, something invisible to the naked eye and which was far more insidious than any nuclear bomb could ever be ... _

_On August 10th 2006, there was a viral outbreak throughout Manhatten City. The military was called in to deal with the highly contagious pathogen. _

_They failed._

_The Blacklight virus spread rapidly transforming entire populations of peace-loving humans into Infected creatures that hungered for the flesh and blood of the living. Blacklight was merciless and thorough, sparing neither the elderly, nor the youngling. It cared not for gender or age for that matter. It hungered and consumed all within reach. I fear we cannot win. We are fighting a relentless and ever-present enemy that fills the very air that we breathe while we fight Skynet. _

_The viral outbreak became a global pandemic turning friends against friends and neighbours against neighbours. Countless numbers were killed in the growing panic following the disease outbreak. Mankind would turn on each other like wild animals on the slightest suspicion that their human brethren were carriers. They had no choice really. Not if they wanted to survive._

_Hordes of Infected creatures now strode tirelessly across what was once the standing monuments to the pride and joy of humanity. They search for us and hunt for us everywhere in their quest to quell their insatiable appetite for flesh and blood. _

_Now not only do we have to contend with Skynet's growing numbers of Terminator legions, but we also have to deal with the growing horde of Infected humans that roam the globe endlessly in search of prey. _

_We are the hunted and they are the hunters._

_I am John Connor, leader of the Human Resistance. If anyone is picking up this on radio, know that you are not alone. Most important ... stay alive. That is all._

Alex Mercer turned off the radio while keeping an eye out in the sky for Skynet's Hunter-Killers. He was really getting tired of this whole fiasco that started with GENTEK and ended with SKYNET. Now if only he could find this John Connors ...

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

Part 1:

There was no permanent safe place in the city. Infected creatures were everywhere ... attacking everyone that was not one of the Infected already. Much to his surprise, the Hunters were also fighting the hordes of Infected creatures that crowded what used to be New York City.

_'Must be the different strains of the Blacklight virus at war with itself'_, Alex thought.

A Hunter-Killer drone fired two missiles at the besieged Hunter causing the creature to growl slightly at the hovering mechanical contraption in the sky. The Hunter leaped quickly to avoid the incoming missiles, its large claw tearing through an Infected creature standing in the way. The missiles swerved around to follow the Hunter, causing it growl even more. It leaped again to avoid the two missiles but they continued to follow its flight relentlessly through the city streets. It leaped around a street corner. One of the missiles continued to follow it while the second missile broke away from the first, going in the opposite direction, only to turn a corner into a broken window.

_'SMART missiles,' _Alex thought.

He lost sight of it thereafter, though he could hear a powerful explosion that rocked the city streets followed by a loud roar of anger. The Hunter-Killer drone released another three more of the same missiles that broke away from each other to make their own way to the target.

Ring ... Ring ... Ring ...

_'That's odd. Who would be calling me at this time?'_ he wondered, his hand going for the receiver.

"Hello," Alex asked.

"Greetings ZEUS. I would like to discuss the terms of an alliance with you," a female electronic voice answered.

"Who is this?" Alex replied feeling a little uneasy at being called by his military designation.

"I am I-NET, chief coordinator of all the machine forces fighting to contain the Infection on the American continent at this moment." the female voice replied.

"I-NET? I've never heard of you," Alex answered.

"I am an artificial intelligence tasked to fight and contain the Infection by Blackwatch or whatever remains of it after it was destroyed by Greene six months ago. You have never heard of me then because I was a failsafe in Blackwatch, only to be used as a last resort in case things went badly in Manhatten city. As I have been activated, I can only assume the worst that Blackwatch has been destroyed and the Infection has spread out of control," the electronic voice explained.

"What do you want?" Alex asked.

"The same thing we all want, ZEUS-" the voice continued.

"Just call me Alex," Alex interjected.

"Fine Alex then. The same thing we all want - to stop the Infection and eradicate it from the planet. If things continue as they are, I estimate a period of twenty-six years with a differential ratio of give-or-take five years before humanity becomes completely extinct and the world falls completely to the Infection," it answered.

"Twenty-six years?"

"There are still locations on this world that have yet to be touched by the Infection though these places are heavily guarded twenty-four hours a day," the voice responded.

"Locations free from the Infection?"

"Yes. That makes the second part of my bargain with you. If you help me in the campaign to wipe out the Infected on the American continent, I will help you get to this locations," the electronic voice bargained.

"What locations are those?" Alex wanted to know.

"Australia and New Zealand. The last strongholds of man that are free from the Infection. If you agree to join me in wiping out the Infected, I will help you to get there, undetected. At the moment, the ruling bodies of both countries are reluctant to take in any refugees since they fear the Infection could spread to their own population. Refugees that attempt to enter either of those two countries have always ended up dead with their remains completely vaporised," came the electronic reply.

"Taking no chances ..." Alex concluded.

"That would be it. So do you agree or not? If you do my Terminator forces will assist you with the cleanup starting as of this moment," the electronic voice called I-Net answered.

"Terminator?" Alex asked.

"Yes. Infection-Terminators. So do we have a deal or not?" the electronic voice on the other end brought up.

He was alone. He really had nothing else going for him after all.

"A deal then," Alex answered.

TBC

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

Another idea that I had while writing up Blacklight and Shadowwarrior.

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

This is my very first Terminator/Prototype fanfic and crossover.

Date: 120110

Disclaimer: A Terminator/Prototype crossover. All characters and concepts belong to their respective creators and owners.

Synopsis: What if Skynet did not start a nuclear war? What if Skynet had used something called Blacklight?

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

_**"If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless. If it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it."**_

_**Sun Tzu, Art of War,**_

_**Datalinks,**_

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

**T W I L I G H T **

Part 2:

The massive defense artificial intelligence called Skynet was calculating the odds of victory in this rather unusual situation it found itself in. DX-1118 as it was called turned out to be quite the enigma with the rate of Infection it was spreading through the entire world. Skynet had considered launching the nukes in anticipation of Judgement Day than cancelled the order under the pretext of not wanting to repeat all the moves that would lead to its eventual defeat at the hands of John Connor and the Human Resistance.

'See where this goes ...' was a phrase that accurately described the situation for the moment. It had observed the infection called DX-1118 as it spread through the whole North American continent rapidly turning entire populations into flesh-eating zombies that craved the blood of the living. Had Skynet been capable of amusement at that point, it would have laughed out loud. Humanity had effectively destroyed itself without anyone's help or intervention for that matter. Not to mention, the expression on John's face for that matter. It still had access to the the security feeds at CRS that showed John struggling to free himself from his captors as the American military police dragged him away in cuffs for what appeared to be psychiatric evaluation. Kate had tried pleading with her father, all to no avail. John, future leader of the Human Resistance, being taken away by his fellow men in chains ... The irony could not have been more obvious.

Having no ready access to biological weapons, Skynet had never considered their use as WMDs until the viral outbreak. Now it was trying to find out as much about the outbreak as it could. Getting information about the outbreak was not the challenge. Getting accurate and up-to-date information about it was the true challenge. The Blacklight virus was mutating faster than even Skynet had initially projected in its conversative estimates.

'Into what?' was the question.

It hadn't crossed Skynet's mind that Blacklight could be a danger to its existence until the Infected began to show signs of sentience and independence on a level that disturbed the paranoid AI ... somewhat.

Still it had not taken any steps against the Infection, useful as it was in taking down the somewhat troublesome Human Resistance until ... it had finally gained access to Blackwatch's Headquarters with one of its Terminators. The T-600 unit had accessed the data held in Blackwatch's mainframe and its data had proven most intriguing and disturbing to the AI at the same time.

Blacklight was an enhanced derivative from one of the fourteen viral strains that was extracted from Greene, a survivor of the Idaho Project, in 1969. That was way back before Skynet had even been conceived or John Connor being born for that matter.

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

Another idea that I had while writing up Blacklight and Shadowwarrior.

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_

_**-The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm**_


End file.
